Wed 29 Mar 2017, 11:35 GMT

LNG bunker coalition adds three new members


JAX LNG, Petronet LNG and Toyota Tsusho Corporation join SEA\LNG.



SEA\LNG, the multi-sector industry coalition aiming to accelerate the widespread adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, today announced the addition of three new members to the coalition - JAX LNG, Petronet LNG, and Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) - to support its goal of creating the necessary confidence in the shipping sector to drive an effective and efficient global LNG value chain by 2020.

Peter Keller, SEA\LNG Chairman and Executive Vice President, TOTE, said: "As a coalition, SEA\LNG is expanding, which continues to illustrate the support for and momentum behind the use of LNG as a marine fuel. Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC), JAX LNG, and Petronet LNG Limited are the latest to join and we welcome their addition to our membership. SEA/LNG members span the entire LNG value chain and recognise that by pooling knowledge and working together, we can help drive the change needed across the marine transportation system."

JAX LNG, LLC is a partnership created to bring secure liquefied natural gas supply to Florida. The partnership was formed in 2015 and brought together Pivotal LNG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company Gas, and NorthStar Midstream, backed by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. JAX LNG is constructing a state-of-the-art liquefaction and LNG storage facility with marine and trucking loading capabilities in Jacksonville, Florida. The new facility is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2017. The project includes an initial liquefaction capacity of 120,000 gallons of LNG per day and 2 million gallons of on-site LNG storage.

Tim Hermann, Manager of JAX LNG and President of Pivotal LNG, remarked: "Once complete, the new JAX LNG facility will provide a reliable LNG fuel source located on one of Florida's key waterways that will help meet the growing LNG demands of the maritime and other transportation industries, and will expand the use of LNG throughout the southeastern U.S. We're excited by the expanded use of LNG as a transportation fuel, and look forward to continued growth of both infrastructure and markets globally."

Petronet LNG Limited, one of the fastest growing companies in the Indian energy sector, has set up the country's first LNG receiving and regasification terminal at Dahej, Gujarat, and another terminal at Kochi, Kerala. The Dahej terminal has a nominal capacity of 15 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), which is being expanded to 17.5 MMTPA by 2019, and Kochi terminal has a capacity of 5 MMTPA. The company has four long-term chartered LNG ships transporting LNG from Qatar and Australia to Dahej and Kochi, India. In addition to re-gasification services, through its Kochi LNG Terminal, Petronet LNG is also offering LNG bunkering, gassing up and cooling down, as well as storage and re-loading services.

Prabhat Singh, MD & CEO, commented: "Petronet LNG is at the forefront of India's all-out national drive to ensure the country's clean energy security in the years to come. As such, we have signed MoUs with the Indian Ports Association and the Inland Waterways Authority of India to set up LNG bunkering facilities along the coast of India, and in National Waterways. By sharing intelligence with other SEA\LNG members, we know that the potential of LNG as a clean and commercially viable marine fuel can be realised more quickly."

Toyota Tsusho Corporation is the sole trading company of Toyota Group. Toyota Tsusho Petroleum Pte. Ltd. (TTP) is a wholly owned subsidiary of TTC, a supplier and trader of bunker fuel worldwide with a presence in over 150 ports, supplying over five million tonnes of bunker fuel every year.

Commenting on its SEA\LNG membership, Yoshihiro Inoue, Executive Officer for Energy Business Unit, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, explained: "We have been supplying marine fuel oil to the shipping industry worldwide for a long time through our subsidiary company, Toyota Tsusho Petroleum Pte. Ltd. As a member of the Toyota Group, we are committed to playing our part in lowering global emissions and are very pleased to collaborate with all members of SEA\LNG to challenge the future marine fuel environment."

SEA\LNG recently announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Society for Gas as Marine Fuel (SGMF). The MoU creates a framework for how the two complementary organisations will work together to achieve their common goal of making LNG the fuel of choice for the shipping industry.

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